Amid sharp criticism of intensifying anti-Semetic rhetoric, encampments popped back up at Columbia University Sunday as students continued to protest the war in Gaza at the uptown Manhattan campus.
The encampment, which appeared to include a number of tents, were set up on the university’s southwest lawn just days after the NYPD arrested more than 100 students demanding the university divest from Israel. The protesters have been sleeping on the grass without any sort of shelter for three nights.
“And as they were arresting the students on that lawn we all moved to this lawn as a way of saying you can arrest 100 people [but] 300 more of us are going to come and replace them,” said a graduate student who asked to be identified only as Molly.
Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News
Pictures from inside the pro-Palestine encampment on the southwest lawn at Columbia University campus. (Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News)
On Sunday morning, student organizers announced they had negotiated with administration and tents would be allowed at least through the end of the week, protestors told the Daily News.
But the university’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported late Sunday the reappearance of tents was not authorized.
“Students do not have permission to set up tents on the lawn,” a spokesperson told the Spectator. “Those who do are in violation of long-standing University policy and will be identified and subjected to disciplinary action.”
The ongoing protests, and reports of escalating anti-Semitic rhetoric, prompted condemnation Sunday from the White House and Mayor Eric Adams. A university rabbi warned about 300 Jewish students via text message to head home to ensure their safety on campus.
In response to growing concerns over on-campus safety, the university will allow students to study remotely while a Jewish student group said students should not leave Columbia. The NYPD plans to increase its presence around the campus.
Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News
Pictures from inside the pro-Palestine encampment on the southwest lawn at Columbia University campus. (Roni Jacobson for New York Daily News)
After students last week refused to take down the tent encampment, hundreds of cops flooded the campus at the request of university President Minouche Shafik Thursday, who a day earlier defended the administration’s response to campus antisemitism before Congress.
The testimony sparked steady protests that continued through Sunday, with demonstrators waving flags and chanting.
“We’re here until we get our demands met. Graduation is coming in like three weeks,” said a student who asked not to be named. “Its supposed to happen on the lawn so they don’t get a graduation if they don’t divest.”
In a post on X Sunday evening, Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD will deploy more officers outside the campus, but noted they cannot have a presence on campus unless requested by university officials.